This idea sort of came to me. I wanted to know if you guys felt it would work as an idea for a middle grade novel. Also, the title is the working title.

After Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan's mysterious disappearance, many theories arose about what happened. In my WIP, ALIVE AND WELL IN DIMENSION WOMAN, Amelia and Fred didn't die. The plane didn't crash. Through a series of clouds, the two are transported into an alternate dimension.

The dimension is filled with strong, powerful, women, with important careers. At first, Amelia is impressed with this dimension, until she discovers the oppression of men. They can't own property or vote. Boys usually don't go to school, while their sisters do. Husbands are expected to do as their wives say and be obedient.

Amelia meets a thirteen year old boy named Jonathan, with a desire to fly. Of course, in this dimension, men just don't fly. It isn't done. Amelia risks her life to help him acheive his dream. When she takes him under her wing and teaches him how to fly, they're in more trouble than they ever would've thought.

This is basically the starts of the plot. Please tell me what you think.

K-Mark

08-23-2006, 10:17 PM

I think it's a cool storyline. Not sure if I like the title, though. I say go for it!

Provrb1810meggy

08-23-2006, 10:21 PM

Yeah, it's the working title, which always turn out to be horrible. I'm excited about this story, but it's going to take a lot of research. I usually don't have to research that much for a novel, seeing as they usually take place in the present, at a school, with people my age.

PattiTheWicked

08-23-2006, 11:25 PM

I think if written from Jonathan's point of view, it could be really interesting. Speculative fiction is always neat, because it makes you stop and say "what if?", particularly when it comes to alternate realities. It sounds like the society you're describing is a bit like a reverse Gilead (I know you're a teen, but if you haven't read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, you really should) where it's the men who are oppressed.

The question is, how do you resolve the trouble Amelia and Jonathan get into? Does he escape into some other reality, perhaps ours? Do they band together and show society that it's bad to oppress people based on gender, leading to a Brady Bunch kind of moment at the end, where everyone hugs and sings Kumbayah? Perhaps Jonathan helps Amelia try to get home, and in the process realizes that not only can he fly, but he can show other people how to also. There are any number of possibilities, as long as it doesn't come out hokey in the end.

I like the idea.

For that matter, maybe this place is where a LOT of missing people end up.

maddythemad

08-23-2006, 11:35 PM

I love the idea! Depending on how you do it, I think it could be for different age groups, but middle grade sounds totally fine. I would suggest not hammering in the theme of "everyone should be treated equally" just because it can get tiring, but other than that it sounds excellent. I love these "what if such-and-such never happened" books. Good luck!

Provrb1810meggy

08-24-2006, 12:47 AM

Well, I was expanding more on the idea. What I have so far is that the president (verging on dictator) finds out Amelia is working with Jonathan. She thinks Jonathan is an innocent young boy and sends Amelia off to jail. Jonathan refuses to give up and goes on his first solo flight across town, by the prison. This attracts attention and people are shocked a male drove the plane. It becomes a media circus and Jonathan starts a men's movement, much like the suffragist movement. It's basically ignored by the political leaders and they don't free Amelia out of jail, but they're still determined. It would end on a note that the movement has started, leaving hope that they'll movement will eventually mirror our women's movement and stuff. (Gotta leave an opportunity for a sequel..he he)

I was thinking for the president/villian person that maybe she was a women's right activist, fed up with our dimension, who wanted women to rule, and so she, along with some other women, established such a place, but I don't know how I'd make that work, since it's an alternate dimension.

PattiTheWicked

08-24-2006, 01:04 AM

For someone to "establish" a place like that within a lifetime, they'd literally have to colonize it, but people in our dimension might have noticed if that many people vanished. The other alternative is that if the society had evolved that way, gradually, but that would take a few generations at the very least. Not saying you shouldn't do either of these things, but these are just a couple of things to think about.

An interesting twist, actually, would be for Jonathan -- and perhaps Amelia -- to discover that the president IS from our dimension, something she may have been keeping secret for many years.

And then of course you have to determine that space/time parallel -- if someone leaves our dimension in 1930, goes to this alternate place, and then returns a year later, is it 1931, or some completely different time?

dclary

09-01-2006, 01:20 PM

Personally, I love this concept. Good luck with it!

Soccer Mom

09-01-2006, 07:15 PM

Any updates, Meggy? I love the concept of this novel. In fact, I've thought about it several times since you first posted this. If that doesn't show it's a winner, I don't know what does.